"Everyone, try to find where the mark was, someone, or something, must have wiped it away. We can't wander around waiting for the Order of the Rack to catch up..."

"Neither can we afford to spend time dallying here," Akorian calls from somewhere in the back of the group, "If the sign is missing then something else lurks in these sewers with the intelligence to know what it indicated. So, let's be doubly vigilant. But most of all, lets keep moving and look for sign of another mark at the next intersection."

Marius takes not of Ravens words..this one bears watching..his cousin might be tough on the outside but he isnt sure she is as hard as she likes to think and charmers like that always get his hackles up"

At Morosinos admission he looks around at the lad...some one not done therer job huh..ok it shouldnt be too hard to find our way out of here"

Raven has already rolled for a Perception check and came up with 11 a few posts back.

"I suppose we could take a moment or two to search for the missing sign or anything else that might point us to the right direction. But I agree with Akorian; we should not take too long to move on ahead."

As he checks for anything of interest along with the rest of his companions, an idea occurs to him. Not a thought he is particularly fond of, but he speaks his mind nevertheless. "Of course, I could always scout ahead on my own for a little, while the rest of you remain here and look for the missing sword."

He shrugs almost nonchalantly. "Not that I am anxious to move through any part of these sewers by myself, but it is an option I suppose."

At Raven's suggestion of scouting ahead, Zarabeta speaks up. "Absolutely not. If shadow beasts lurk down here, you should not face them alone."

"I'm inclined to agree with the lady, Raven," Akorian interjects, "Even with your skills, there's no denying a shadow beast...or nightstalker or whatever's said to lurk down here...would prove a far deadlier match. It's better if we all stay together and move together. I just think we should keep moving. If Janiven's folks have marked every intersection, it should be easy enough to find another clue a further on. And that puts more distance between us and the Hellknights."

Aside from the missing mark (Waifrin points out the smeared portion of the wall where it was) there is nothing of note here.

Mother Vangelis looks for tracks and upon close examination there are signs of a surprising amount of traffic: Small humanoid feet, normal human size feet, a sluglike-slithery thing that may travel in company with a creature whose multiple limbs end in claws and which wanders up walls quite frequently. None of the signs appear to be recent (within hours).

Zarabeta gets no response on detect magic.

Janiven says, "The safe house is to the southwest. If we just keep heading that way we should pick up the mark again. And you're right, we should keep moving. Lead on, Marius."

***

The next intersection has no mark, nor the second. After a turn to the right, you come to a crossing of two tunnels. Raven spots a wiped area where a sword might have been. Straight ahead seems most southwest (SW) -ish. The tunnel to the left has some movable-looking debris blocking that route. The tunnel to the right is open.

does anyone have sense direction or something similar?

From behind you, by a trick of the echoes, you hear voices. Looking back you see nothing in the darkness.

"Well, I'll be snookered," Mother Vangelis comments as she squats back on her heels. "For a sewer, there's one heck of a lot of traffic down here. Big feet, little feet, spider things and who-knows-what! O.K., lead on, folks!"

"Quiet!" Akorian admonishes those talking, "Let whoever it is pass us by...or walk into our ambush...rather than giving them the courtesy of knowing we're down here with them. Douse or lower the lights as best you can. Raven? I trust your elven eyes better than ours. Tell us if you see anything approaching from either direction."

The nobleman whispers a hurried prayer to Milani in the hope she'll see them through whatever comes their way. And then he loads his crossbow.

Good plan, Neil, but I gave the wrong impression. Whoever is talking back there is far away. The voice is a faint echo. You may choose to wait for them, but they may not even pass by. They may take another turn before reaching you. You may reconsider casting the spell. Janiven and Morosino don't know the way with the sword blazes, so whatever way the party wants to go is as good as another. It's your choice.

"Quiet!" Akorian admonishes those talking, "Let whoever it is pass us by...or walk into our ambush...rather than giving them the courtesy of knowing we're down here with them. Douse or lower the lights as best you can. Raven? I trust your elven eyes better than ours. Tell us if you see anything approaching from either direction."

"I can look my friend, but those sounds seemed too faint, as if coming from too far away to be of any importance. I do not think we should be worried about them, whatever they are, catching up to us at the moment."

Raven, however, tries to see if he can discern anything in the various tunnels, both the one the group came from as well as the three possible routes that lie in front of them.

"We should make a decision sooner or later though. The not-so-friendly people coming after us will probably finish making their way from the tavern to the sewers in a few minutes. I am sure they will not find us all that easily, but why take the chance?"

Perception 16 (10 +6)
Invisible Castle seems to be down, so I rolled it here: http://www.rpglife.com/roller
As for sense direction, perhaps Survival or Knowledge (Dungeoneering) or Knowledge (Engineering)? Not really sure...

"Well, at least if the Hellknights do venture down here, there's a chance they'll run into whoever...or whatever...is making those noises then," Akorian responds, "I agree with Marius and the Waif. Let's move."

"Oh damn," Waifrin shakes her head. "What if our way was behind that pile of debris? I mean, something rubbed out the marks, what if it blocked the passage to make sure we got lost? Then it could ... pick us off at leisure." She looks around again, feeling the darkness beyond the pool of light from the two sunrods pressing in.

"If we stick together and remain calm, nothing will be able to pick us off. Second-guessing each decision will just result in us waiting around for the Hellknights to bring us to the gallows." Zarabeta says with quiet confidence.

If we're going to make a mistake, might as well be decisive about it. she thinks to herself with a rueful grin.

"I know, I know," Waifrin whispers back. "Patience was never one of my virtues, you know?" She keeps looking around, as if by force of will she can stare into the shadows.

"I guess if we're down here long enough it'll get dark above, and we can at least get our bearings on the streets. Not that they'll be any safer than down here at night, from Hellknights, shadowspawn or both, but at least we won't be lost into the bargain."

"Hmm... I must not be paying attention to have missed them." The rogue's words seem to hint of a sort of mild disappointment, but he quickly regains his usual tone. He does keep his voice low though.

"This does create a bit of a dilemma, does it not? Just as we have seen them, so may the opposite be true as well. Thus, if we move on down the middle passage as Janiven just proposed, how can we be sure that the goblins will not chase after us? Perhaps we should deal with them here and now?"

Invisible Castle appears to be down. I used the other website Raven provided above. Perception check... 1d20+3 = 18

"Dilemma or not," Akorian notes, "We're carrying lights they can easily see...and from a lot further away than we can see them. So they know we're here. And if they know, they'll surely be sneaking up behind us. Better to eliminate them now while we can. Or the Hellknights may track them, tracking us..."

The priest raises his crossbow to aim at the only goblin he can see among the debris filled hallway, preparing to fire.

Reaching into his clothes, Raven takes out a hand crossbow concealed on his person up until now, his intention to back the cleric up if it comes down to fighting quite clear. The weapon is already loaded and, although he does not point it towards the debris-filled passageway just yet, he is ready to do so if needed.

'Maybe there is still a chance to keep going without a fight?' he thinks to himself, but without much conviction.

Seeing weapons come out the goblins squawk and begin to wriggle out from under the barrier's debris.

Initiaitve all around. The debris is not especially thick or heavy, so the goblins will not be under any penalty other than a -2 on their roll. Nor, once they move, are the two in the barrier concealed or in cover. We'll skip surprise and go right into a full round Those who beat 5 for initiative may post their first round actions.

Zarabeta sees and hears nothing until the creatures squawk and begin to move forward. She wrestles with herself what to do. She suspects that she could end this encounter in a second, but that option is only available a single time today...

She holds her action until she can see a Goblin, then hurls a dart of golden-green acid at the brute.

With his eyes carefully trained on the debris, Akorian clearly spots his target as soon as the goblins move. He's a little surprised to see more than the one he noticed, but reminds himself that's why they could have been so dangerous sneaking up on the group if they had chosen to pass them by.

He crouches just a bit to give himself a straight shot and then fires...

With a soft sigh Raven points his hand crossbow at the first goblin he is able to see once they start moving out from under the debris. Taking advantage of the fact that, not only has he proven faster than any of the creatures, but also that there is a bit of distance between them, he uses this chance to aim carefully before finally letting loose a bolt.

Ranged attack (hand crossbow) 1d20 +4 = 22
Damage 1d4 +1d6 = 7
I assume we are within 30 feet of the goblins and they do not have concealment since they have started moving, so sneak attack applies. If, however, it does not, Raven does a spectacular 1 point of damage...

Since Zarabeta was last to notice them, I'm gonna assume that she walked an extra step ahead, unaware of why everyone else was slowing down. She'll be in G7 at the beginning of the round, and, when the goblins become evident, will hop over to I7, to make room for her allies.

I guess it is safe to say that Raven is standing at I9 and it is from there that he shot his hand crossbow. He will stay there for now, preferring to wait for the goblins to close the distance and not go to them.

Thom, as I understand it from here, -Combat- even though there is no surprise round, this is the start of battle and, since Raven gets a chance to act before the goblins, they are still considered flat-footed, thus open to a sneak attack. Of course, I have rarely played a rogue (and even more rarely been a DM), so whatever you tell me goes, no problem. :)